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The CpxRA two-component system is essential for Citrobacter rodentium virulence.

ABSTRACT: Citrobacter rodentium is a murine intestinal pathogen used as a model for the foodborne human pathogens enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and enteropathogenic E. coli. During infection, these pathogens use two-component signal transduction systems to detect and adapt to changing environmental conditions. In E. coli, the CpxRA two-component signal transduction system responds to envelope stress by modulating the expression of a myriad of genes. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that cpxRA was expressed in the colon of C57BL/6J mice infected with C. rodentium. To determine whether CpxRA plays a role during C. rodentium infection, a cpxRA deletion strain was generated and found to have a colonization defect during infection. This defect was independent of an altered growth rate or a defective type III secretion system, and single-copy chromosomal complementation of cpxRA restored virulence. The C. rodentium strains were then tested in C3H/HeJ mice, a lethal intestinal infection model. Mice infected with the ?cpxRA strain survived infection, whereas mice infected with the wild-type or complemented strains succumbed to infection. Furthermore, we found that the cpxRA expression level was higher during early infection than at a later time point. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the CpxRA two-component signal transduction system is essential for the in vivo virulence of C. rodentium. In addition, these data suggest that fine-tuned cpxRA expression is important for infection. This is the first study that identifies a C. rodentium two-component transduction system required for pathogenesis. This study further indicates that CpxRA is an interesting target for therapeutics against enteric pathogens.

SUBMITTER: Thomassin JL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4399039 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The CpxRA two-component system is essential for Citrobacter rodentium virulence.

Thomassin Jenny-Lee JL Giannakopoulou Natalia N Zhu Lei L Gross Jeremy J Salmon Kristiana K Leclerc Jean-Mathieu JM Daigle France F Le Moual Hervé H Gruenheid Samantha S

Infection and immunity 20150223 5

Citrobacter rodentium is a murine intestinal pathogen used as a model for the foodborne human pathogens enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and enteropathogenic E. coli. During infection, these pathogens use two-component signal transduction systems to detect and adapt to changing environmental conditions. In E. coli, the CpxRA two-component signal transduction system responds to envelope stress by modulating the expression of a myriad of genes. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that cpxRA was ex ...[more]

PMID: 25712925

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Project description:Citrobacter rodentium is a murine pathogen used to model the intestinal infection caused by Enteropathogenic and Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EPEC and EHEC), two diarrheal pathogens responsible for morbidity and mortality in developing and developed countries, respectively. During infection, these bacteria must sense and adapt to the gut environment of the host. In order to adapt to changing environmental cues and modulate expression of specific genes, bacteria can use two-component signal transduction systems (TCS). We have shown that the deletion of the Cpx TCS in C. rodentium leads to a marked attenuation in virulence in C3H/HeJ mice. In E. coli, the Cpx TCS is reportedly activated in response to signals from the outer-membrane lipoprotein NlpE. We therefore investigated the role of NlpE in C. rodentium virulence. We also assessed the role of the reported negative regulator of CpxRA, CpxP. We found that as opposed to the ?cpxRA strain, neither the ?nlpE, ?cpxP nor the ?nlpE?cpxP strains were significantly attenuated, and had similar in vivo localization to wild-type C. rodentium. The in vitro adherence of the Cpx auxiliary protein mutants, ?nlpE, ?cpxP, ?nlpE?cpxP, was comparable to wild-type C. rodentium, whereas the ?cpxRA strain showed significantly decreased adherence. To further elucidate the mechanisms behind the contrasting virulence phenotypes, we performed microarrays in order to define the regulon of the Cpx TCS. We detected 393 genes differentially regulated in the ?cpxRA strain. The gene expression profile of the ?nlpE strain is strikingly different than the profile of ?cpxRA with regards to the genes activated by CpxRA. Further, there is no clear inverse correlation in the expression pattern of the ?cpxP strain in comparison to ?cpxRA. Taken together, these data suggest that in these conditions, CpxRA activates gene expression in a largely NlpE- and CpxP-independent manner. Compared to wildtype, 161 genes were downregulated in the ?cpxRA strain, while being upregulated or unchanged in the Cpx auxiliary protein deletion strains. This group of genes, which we hypothesize may contribute to the loss of virulence of ?cpxRA, includes T6SS components, ompF, the regulator for colanic acid synthesis, and several genes involved in maltose metabolism.

Project description:Citrobacter rodentium is a murine pathogen used to model the intestinal infection caused by Enteropathogenic and Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EPEC and EHEC), two diarrheal pathogens responsible for morbidity and mortality in developing and developed countries, respectively. During infection, these bacteria must sense and adapt to the gut environment of the host. In order to adapt to changing environmental cues and modulate expression of specific genes, bacteria can use two-component signal transduction systems (TCS). We have shown that the deletion of the Cpx TCS in C. rodentium leads to a marked attenuation in virulence in C3H/HeJ mice. In E. coli, the Cpx TCS is reportedly activated in response to signals from the outer-membrane lipoprotein NlpE. We therefore investigated the role of NlpE in C. rodentium virulence. We also assessed the role of the reported negative regulator of CpxRA, CpxP. We found that as opposed to the ΔcpxRA strain, neither the ΔnlpE, ΔcpxP nor the ΔnlpE/ΔcpxP strains were significantly attenuated, and had similar in vivo localization to wild-type C. rodentium. The in vitro adherence of the Cpx auxiliary protein mutants, ΔnlpE, ΔcpxP, ΔnlpEΔcpxP, was comparable to wild-type C. rodentium, whereas the ΔcpxRA strain showed significantly decreased adherence. To further elucidate the mechanisms behind the contrasting virulence phenotypes, we performed microarrays in order to define the regulon of the Cpx TCS. We detected 393 genes differentially regulated in the ΔcpxRA strain. The gene expression profile of the ΔnlpE strain is strikingly different than the profile of ΔcpxRA with regards to the genes activated by CpxRA. Further, there is no clear inverse correlation in the expression pattern of the ΔcpxP strain in comparison to ΔcpxRA. Interestingly, 161 genes were downregulated in the ΔcpxRA strain while being upregulated or unchanged in all other Cpx auxiliary protein deletion strains. This group of genes include T6SS, ompF and the regulator for colanic acid synthesis, that may contribute to the loss of virulence of ΔcpxRA. Taken together, these data suggest that in these conditions, CpxRA activates gene expression in a largely NlpE- and CpxP-independent manner.

Dataset Information

The CpxRA two-component system is essential for Citrobacter rodentium virulence.

Publications

The CpxRA two-component system is essential for Citrobacter rodentium virulence.

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